Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu repeats their seat-sharing formula applied in 2019 and allots 9 seats in the state and one in neighboring Puducherry to the Congress for upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In presence of AICC leaders KC Venugopal and Ajoy Kumar, DML president and Chief Minister MK Stalin and TNCC Chief K Selvaperunthagai finalized this deal.
Venugopal in his interview informs the media that Congress will contest elections on 9 seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry and as for the remaining seats they would support the candidates of DMK and Alliance parties.
He did sound confident while announcing his victory – ” We will win all 40 seats of Tamil Nadu. We are confident that INDIA Alliance will win all 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The INDIA Alliance can make the perception that they are winning but this alliance will be ruling the country after this election,” the Congress leader said.
‘Bonding’ between Congress and DMK is ‘intact’, says Venugopal
The Congress being the DMK’s principal ally in the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu, the mutual support and balance between the two is highly required of and from each other.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, the Congress was in the race for nine out of a total of 39 parliamentary seats, besides the lone seat in Puducherry. 8 seats were won in that polls in Tamil Nadu. The DMK contested for 20 seats last year and won all of them.
Even in the 2021 assembly elections, the DMK contested 188 out 234 seats and managed to win 133 of them. The Congress was given 25 seats and it won 18 seats.
The DMK has fixed deals with key allies like VCK- Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a party with a significant Dalit voter base led by Thol Thirumavalavan and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(MDMK) led by veteran Tamil Nationalist leader Vaiko. Two seats each has been allocated to the VCK, CPI(M) and CPI and a seat each to the MDMK, IUML(Indian Union Muslim League)and KMDK (Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi) by the MK Stalin led party. The KMDK is a smaller outfit based in western Tamil Nadu, a region considered a bastion of rival and primary opposition AIADMK.
Sources says that in DMK and its allies gave an initial picture of the constituency split, which includes swapping certain constituencies. For examples, the CPI(M) instead of Coimbatore have to opt for either Dindigul or Cuddalore though it will retain Madurai. In 2019, it won both Coimbatore and Madurai. Since CPI(M) has been forced to give up Coimbatore as per decision of DMK , the reason behind it had hands of none other than ,the state BJP president – K Annalmalai.
In the alternatives list for Coimbatore is Makkal Needhi Maiam(MNM)cheif and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan who is now in alliance with DMK after independently contesting 2019 polls. Reportedly, DMK offered MNM the option of either contesting one Lok Sabha seat or accepting a post-pull Rajya Sabha berth.
A senior DMK minister says that they have suggested Kamal Hassan contest from Coimbatore but there is no confirmation as he prefers Chennai South, which the DMK leadership is unlikely to spare for allys as Chennai Central has always been a traditional bastion of the DMK. If the Hassan is not choosing Coimbatore, the DMK will have a powerful face from the party.
While the CPI won’t retain Tiruppur and Nagapattinam, Vaiko’s MDMK will again contest from Trichy or Virudhunagar Instead of Erode that it currently host. The IUML is likely to contest again from Ramanthapuran, seat with significant minority votes. The KMKD will retain Namakkal, the heartland of Kongu Nadu or the Grounder that it won in 2019.
Comments 1